The chickens who end up on most dinner plates today grow so huge, so fast, that they can barely stand up. Many collapse under their own weight and spend much of their lives lying in their own waste, with open sores and wounds.

This is a fast-growing, modern chicken.

This is what chickens used to look like.

Most chickens who end up on people’s dinner plates today grow so huge, so fast, that they can barely stand up. Many collapse under their own weight and spend much of their lives lying in their own waste, with open sores and wounds.

With better breeding and better living conditions, slower-growing chickens are typically healthier, suffer less, and may be less likely to transmit foodborne illnesses.

Test

Tell Your Local Store:I Want More Humanely Raised Chicken97,336 people have taken action for chickens. Join them!

Thanks for sending your letter. Now spread the word!

Thanks for sending a letter to your local grocery store. We’ll make sure they get the message that customers like you are counting on them to carry healthier, more humane chicken. The more people who speak up the better, so take a minute to spread the word to your friends and family now. Just use the share links below!

As your customer, I am asking you to carry more humanely raised chicken. Chickens on today’s factory farms suffer due to inhumane conditions and breeding for excessive growth. Most spend the majority of their lives lying down in cramped, dirty conditions, increasing the chances they will carry foodborne illness. Chickens and shoppers deserve better. When I shop, I want to know that chickens were raised with basic welfare standards. Please carry chicken with one of the following certifications:

Steps 3 and above

These labels mean standards that are better for chickens and better for my family, and that’s important to me.

Thank you for caring about your customers and animals.

Yes, I want to receive updates from ASPCA

The ASPCA will deliver your message to the retailer.The information you enter above may be used by the ASPCA to contact you in furtherance of our mission.

What the Cluck?

In 1925, it took 16 weeks to raise a chicken to 2.5 pounds. Today, chickens weigh double that in just six weeks!

Photo courtesy Wakker Dier

Many birds cannot support their own weight. Unable to stand or walk, they can die of dehydration or hunger just inches from food and water.

United States, 2014

According to the University of Arkansas, if humans grew at a similar rate, a 6.6-pound newborn baby would weigh 660 pounds after two months.

Photo courtesy Wakker Dier

Many chickens lie in their own waste for much of their lives, with open sores and infections. These unhealthy conditions could potentially increase the risk of foodborne illnesses like salmonella.

“Supersized baby chicks on the menu”

Want to Know More?

Thanks to a horrific combination of selective breeding and rearing practices, most of today’s chickens are growing at a rate three times faster than 60 years ago! As one farmer put it, “we’ve successfully bred most of the chicken out of the chicken.” Unable to support their massive bodies, many cannot stand, and spend much of their lives lying in their own waste with open sores and infections. On top of that, factory-like farms offer chickens almost no room to move and almost no ability to engage in natural behavior like perching and dust bathing.